Then Gulab glanced up into the trees, and saw at once why the buffaloes were behaving like that. But he did not waste a minute. He ran to the buffaloes, shouting:

"Down, Baldo! Down, Chando!"

But the two biggest bulls and all the others glared at the trees and snorted in fury.

"Down!" Gulab shrieked. "Down, or I shall spank you!"

He rushed to Baldo, and spanked him on the jaw. He rushed to Chando, and spanked him on the jaw. He rushed from buffalo to buffalo, and spanked each one on the jaw.

Then the huge animals that had charged the raging tiger, and that were now fierce themselves, obeyed the little boy. They blinked, then one by one lowered their heads. Gulab climbed up by Baldo's horns, and seated himself on his back.

"Now turn around, all!" he ordered. And the buffaloes slowly turned away from the trees.

Gulab looked back over his shoulder, and said to the six Englishmen who were up in the trees: "You may come down now. My buffaloes won't hurt you a bit, because if they try to I will spank them!"

Then the little boy took away the buffaloes, and the six big Englishmen came down from the trees quite safely.

And now, do you understand what had happened? I shall tell you. The Englishmen had forgotten what the herdsman had told them—about keeping away from the buffaloes. The Englishmen had walked about, and had finally come near the pond where the buffaloes were.

Then the buffaloes had come out and charged them. The Englishmen had run and run, and had just managed to reach the trees. But the buffaloes had come there after them! So the big Englishmen had to stay up in the trees, and wait for some little village boy to come and take away the furious buffaloes.

I have told you this story, my dear (and it is a true story) just to show you what kind of an animal the buffalo is—at least, this sort of buffalo. Even when he is furious, he will do anything for the little boy whom he loves.

But as it is a true story, I must tell you one more thing that happened—and I am sure you will be delighted to hear about it. The six Englishmen went to the palace, and laughed and laughed, and told all about it to the little Prince whose birthday it was.

Then the Rajah, who was the little Prince's father, said that Baldo and Chando should not be made to plow any more, or do another bit of work in their lives. Why? Because Baldo and Chando had first helped to save Gulab from the tiger at the pond, and then afterwards they had helped to hunt the tiger.

So after that, Baldo and Chando were allowed to walk about the village as they pleased, and nibble at anybody's hay or grass, and splash in anybody's pond, and wallow in anybody's ditch, rut, or mire.

And what was little Gulab's reward for saving the six Englishmen? Well, the little Prince, whose birthday it was, came and took Gulab by the hand, and brought him to the grand palace, and gave him lots and lots to eat—cakes and ice cream and candy—so that Gulab went home that night very full and very happy.



CHAPTER IX

Deer and Antelope

The buffalo has many relatives among other animals which also have horns. In fact, all animals that have horns are some relation to each other—first cousin, second cousin, third cousin, and so on.

The buffalo's nearest relatives are the ordinary cows and bulls that you see in the fields.

"But the sheep and the goat also have horns," you may say. "Are they also cousins?"

Yes, they are. In the same way the deer and the antelope are also cousins to each other. I am now going to tell you about them.

The deer and the antelope are not exactly the same kind of animal, as you might perhaps think. As I said, they are only cousins. If you look at them carefully in the pictures on pages 103 and 109 you will see which is the antelope and which is the deer—just as you can tell a sheep from a goat.



First see the picture on page 103. These are antelope. Look at the horns carefully. They are something like a cow's horns; only, a cow's horns are sometimes bent and twisted in different ways. But the antelope's horns point upward, and are much longer than a cow's horns. They sometimes look almost like a pair of long and thick spikes, pointed at the top.

Now look at the picture on page 109. These are deer. Look at the horns carefully—only, they are not called horns when the animal is a deer, but antlers, which is a special name. So take a good look at the deer's antlers. There are two of them, and they grow from the top of his head, like the antelope's horns.

But look again. The antlers start from the head as two spikes, but higher up each antler branches out into many parts. In fact, near the top each antler looks something like the branches of a small tree without leaves.

So now you can always tell which is an antelope and which is a deer: the antelope's horns have no branches, but the deer's antlers have many branches.

Horns and Antlers Different in Three Ways

The antelope's horns and the deer's antlers are also different in other ways, which you cannot see in the pictures. So I shall tell you about them:

1. The antelope's horns are hollow inside, and made of the same kind of thing as the hoofs or nails of an animal, only they are thicker and harder. But a deer's antlers are solid, and made of bone.

2. Both the Papas and the Mammas among antelopes have horns. But among most kinds of deer, only the Papas have the antlers; the Mammas have none.

3. Among antelopes, when once the Papas and the Mammas have grown their horns, they keep them always. But among deer, the Papas throw away their antlers every year, and grow new ones. That seems very wonderful! I shall tell you more about it soon.

But now I shall tell you, little by little, all the wonderful things the deer and the antelope can do. I shall begin with the deer, as there are many kinds of deer in America.

Of course, in America there are not such wild jungles as in countries which are hot all the year round. Still, there are many places in the West and a few other parts of America where there is some kind of jungle and plenty of forest. A forest is a kind of jungle, only it has more trees, and fewer thickets; but wild animals can live there just the same.

Elk and Other American Deer

The biggest kind of deer in America is the moose; in fact, it is the biggest kind of deer in the world. The second biggest is the elk; he is nearly as big as the moose. Some people think that the moose and the elk are exactly the same kind of deer, but that is not quite correct. In this book I must not make it too hard for you to understand, by telling you how they are different. So I shall tell you all about the elk, as his picture is on page 109.

Once upon a time elks lived in all parts of America, but now they have been killed off by hunters in most parts, and are found wild only in the Far West.

The elk is a fine fellow. At the shoulder he is as tall as a man, and is as heavy as six men. He lives in places where there is plenty of forest—that is, plenty of trees. Why trees? Because he needs them in winter—for then the bark is his food!

In summer he has plenty to eat—leaves, twigs, and grass. But when the winter comes, and the leaves fall, and the ground is covered with snow, the poor elk would starve and die, if he did not have at least the bark of trees to eat. And very little bark he gets for many days at a time.

Here I must tell you that some kinds of deer are among the most hardy animals; that means that at times they can live on very little. There is a kind of deer, called the reindeer, that lives in the frozen North, where there is snow and ice almost all the year round; and the reindeer has nothing more to eat for many days than a little bit of moss or seaweed.

But there is another animal, not a deer, that is still more hardy: he can go a whole week without eating or drinking—and do work all the time! That seems very wonderful. But I shall tell you about that animal in another chapter.

Now about the elk. His antlers are fine! You can see in the picture how huge they are. And yet, would you believe it, he grew them in only five months! I told you a little while ago that a deer throws off his antlers every year, and grows new ones. I shall now tell you how the elk does that.



In the middle of the winter, the elk's antlers break off bit by bit. In a few weeks they have all fallen off, leaving the elk's head bare, with just a ridge or rough stump on it. Then, early in the spring the new antlers start growing from the top of the stump. They grow very fast, and in five months are as huge as ever.

But while the new antlers are growing, they are not hard. As yet they are soft and tender, and all that time they have an outside covering like hairy leather, to guard them from harm. But as soon as the elk feels that his antlers are quite grown, and are strong and hard, he strips off the outside covering by rubbing the antlers against trees.

Of course, while his antlers are still growing, and are soft and tender, the elk cannot use them to fight another animal; so during that time he hides in the bushes. But as soon as his new antlers have become hard and strong, he is very brave again, and is ready to fight!

Does the elk fight much? He does! He fights most awfully when he has his new antlers. What he fights about, and with whom he fights, I shall tell you in another book.

There are a few other kinds of deer in America, but the funniest of them is called the mule deer, which lives along the Rocky Mountains. He is called the mule deer because he has very long ears, like a mule's ears. And perhaps you have seen a mule bucking—that is, jumping about while holding his legs quite stiff. Well, the mule deer can buck just like that.

And while he is running at a gallop, he will often jump off the ground with stiff legs, and then hop on and on many times like that, with stiff legs, finishing up with another gallop.

That makes him look very funny, and because he jumps like that people in Canada sometimes call him the jumping deer.

Other Kinds of Deer

I must now tell you about some other kinds of deer that live in jungles and forests in other countries.

The fallow deer lives in Europe. When he is wild, he lives in a forest; but when he is tame, he lives in a park. He is a small deer, about the size of a donkey. His coat is very soft and glossy and beautiful. In winter his coat looks dark brown, and his legs and the under part of his body are light brown. But in summer his coat becomes a lovely light red in color, with white spots jotted all over it. Then he is very handsome.

In India also there is a handsome deer, which the people call the lion deer. He looks quite gentle and mild. Then why do the people call him the lion deer? Because he has a lovely coat, golden yellow in color. You could see him far across the open field, if he only stood there. But he is so timid that he does not often come out in the open.

And why has he a yellow coat? Because he lives in a place where there is plenty of yellow grass; and if he stood right in the middle of the grass, and did not move, nobody could see him. Even if a tiger were looking for him, and the deer stood quite still in the grass, the tiger could not find him.

In another chapter I shall tell you how other animals have on their bodies the color of the place where they live, or where they want to hide.

Barking Deer—One of the Wonders of Nature

Now I am coming to one of the nicest kinds of deer in the world, and I am sure you will just love him! He lives in India, and is called the barking deer; only, he is not exactly a deer, but an antelope. You remember what I have told you before, about an antelope having a different kind of horns? Still we must call him the barking deer, as people have already given him that name.

He is very small, about the size of a goat. If there is any danger from an enemy, the barking deer is small enough to hide in any little bush or behind a fallen tree or log; or else he can run away very quietly through the under bushes. And he runs so quickly that his enemy soon loses sight of him.

He is called the barking deer, because he can bark or yap almost like a dog. But, you may ask, why does he want to bark at all, if he is afraid of some enemy? Will not the enemy hear him, and then catch him?

Yes, that is quite true. And yet the fact that he does bark is one of the most wonderful things in the jungle. It is so wonderful that in another book I shall tell you more about it. But now I shall tell you just this:

There are some animals which are so deadly that they could kill off many, many other animals. So, as the only way to save the other animals from being all killed, God has made some special animals to fight those deadly animals.

There is the cobra, which is a snake, and which has such a deadly poison that it could kill almost all other animals in the jungle by just biting them. So, to save the other animals from being killed by the cobra, God made the mongoose. He is a plucky little creature, about the size of a cat. And he will fight and kill every cobra he sees! But really he is such a wonderful animal that I must keep him for another book, when you are old enough to know him better and to love him.

But sometimes the deadly animal is too strong to be killed himself. There is the tiger. He can kill and eat many kinds of animals. But who can kill him? No animal! At least, the elephant and the buffalo could kill the tiger if the tiger should let them catch him and trample on him. But the tiger does not let any animal catch him. Then how can the other animals be saved from the tiger?

God made two special animals to save the others from the tiger. The first is the buffalo, of which I have already told you, and which is the Knight of the Jungle. The second animal is the barking deer. How the barking deer saves the other animals from the tiger, I shall now tell you:

When the tiger is prowling about, all other kinds of deer and antelope just run away, and are glad enough if they escape being eaten. But not the plucky little barking deer! He too runs away, but as soon as he gets a little ahead of the tiger, he stops under a bush and lets out that bark or yap—then runs on at once to another bush.

The tiger is furious, and jumps on the bush where he heard the bark—but the deer is not there now! The deer barks from that second bush—and runs to another one. In this way the barking deer leads the tiger on and on through the jungle from bush to bush.

And why does he bark like that? To tell the other animals in good time that the tiger is coming, and then to tell them exactly where the tiger is.

"Look out, here's a tiger!" That is the meaning of his first bark.

"Here he is! He is coming after me—this way!" That is what he means by the next bark.

"He is chasing me this way! You run the other way!" And that is what the barking deer keeps on saying, as he runs from bush to bush, so that all the other animals know exactly where the tiger is at each minute.

In this way the barking deer runs through the jungle, warning all the other animals, and so spoiling the tiger's dinner all the way.



CHAPTER X

Deer and Antelope: Their Special Gifts

You have learned by this time that every animal has some special gift, that is, he can do one thing better than most other animals. The deer and the antelope have their special gifts.

First, there is their gift of hearing. I have already told you that the wild buffaloes can hear a long way; but the deer and the antelope can hear still farther.

Let us suppose that a tiger is trying to creep up to a deer through the jungle, as quietly as he can. The tiger is still a long way off, and quite hidden by the bushes, so the deer cannot see him at all. But the deer can hear him coming, even if the tiger takes each step very lightly. Why? Because the deer's ears are so sharp that he can hear even a leaf rustling under the tiger's foot, a long way off. So the deer can run away in good time.

To make him hear still better, the deer can turn or bend his ears to the side from which the sound is coming. You have seen an ordinary cow prick up her ears when she heard somebody coming; and many other animals—even a dog—can do the same.

But the deer can do that best. The shape of his ear is like that of a funnel, so as to pour the sound into his ear, as it were. Then even if there is only a single drop of sound, it gets right into his ear.

And by turning or bending his ear, the deer knows which way the sound is coming. You also can tell which way a sound is coming, if it is loud enough; but the deer can do that even when the sound is very faint. That is very useful to him, as he then knows exactly which way a sneaking tiger is coming, and can run the other way.

I must now tell you that the tiger himself, tries to come so quietly that the deer may not hear him at all; and to help him to do so, his feet are padded with muscles, just like cushions. So it is a kind of trial between the tiger and the deer as to which is the more clever. If the tiger can come so quietly that the deer cannot hear him, then the tiger is more clever than the deer. But if the deer can hear the tiger, even if the tiger comes most quietly, then the deer is more clever than the tiger.

That kind of trial between two different animals as to which is the more clever, goes on in the jungle all the time: and the more clever one wins every time. If the tiger is more clever than the deer, the tiger eats the deer; but if the deer is more clever than the tiger, the deer escapes being eaten. And that is true of all other animals. In fact, one of the great wonders of the jungle is that the animal which is the fittest wins the oftenest; and so he goes on living, whatever may happen to the others.[1]

[Footnote 1: To the Teacher.—Please give the class other examples of the "Survival of the Fittest" among other creatures—birds, insects, fish, etc.]

Now I come to the second special gift of the deer and the antelope. If by any chance a deer cannot hear a sneaking tiger, he can still smell the tiger.

Most animals can smell their enemy a long way off, even if they do not hear him or see him; but the deer and the antelope can smell the farthest. Even if a sneaking tiger is so cunning that he stops in a thicket and stands quite still for a minute, so that he does not make any sound at all,—and so the deer cannot hear him,—even then the deer can smell him when he is still a long way off.

I must tell you now that the tiger himself can smell the deer. But he cannot do that very far off,—so the deer always smells him first!

Also, the tiger can hear the deer, if the deer happens to be moving. But the tiger cannot hear quite so far as the deer can. So the deer always hears him first!

But in one thing the tiger is better off than the deer: the tiger can see farther than the deer. In the night most animals can see a little, but the tiger can see a little better and farther than the others. And in the daytime, if a deer were feeding in a very big level field, and a tiger came to the field from the other side, the tiger would see the deer before the deer could see him. Then the tiger would come round to the nearest thicket, and try to creep up to the deer from thicket to thicket.

Each Animal has the Gift he Needs Most

So, you understand, the deer can hear farther and smell farther; but the tiger can see farther.

And that is so because it is a wonderful rule in the jungle that each animal has the gift that he needs most.

But can you think why the tiger needs to see farther, and why the deer needs to hear farther and smell farther? I shall tell you.

The tiger is the catcher, and the deer is the one that is caught. So the tiger tries to get to the deer, and the deer tries to run from the tiger.

But to get to the deer, it would be no use to the tiger if he could only smell or hear the deer, for then he would only know that the deer was somewhere near, but could not find the exact spot; and to catch the deer the tiger must know exactly where the deer is. So the best way for him to know that is to see the deer.

But for the deer himself, all that he needs to know is that a tiger is somewhere near. So it is quite enough for him to know from which side the tiger is coming, by just smelling him or hearing him. Then the deer can run the other way at once. He does not want to see the tiger at all!

So, you understand, the tiger's best gift is to be able to see the deer; and the deer's best gift is to be able to smell and hear the tiger.

But then, you may ask, if the deer can always run away long before the tiger can get at him, does a tiger never catch a deer?

Yes, a tiger does catch a deer once in a while, if the deer happens to make a mistake! And the deer can make only one mistake like that in his life, because after the first he gets eaten!

So, you may be sure, the deer tries very hard never to make even that one mistake.

And what is that one mistake? It is to run straight into the jaws of the tiger! It may just happen that when the deer hears the tiger coming, he does not listen quite carefully, and so he does not know which way the sound is coming. Then, in running away, the deer may happen to go just the wrong way—and fall into the tiger's jaws.

Or else it may happen that the deer is so frightened that he loses his head, as it were, and goes just any way—and by bad luck chooses the wrong way, and falls into the tiger's jaws.

But I must tell you that, although the tiger tries very hard to eat the deer, the deer tries still harder not to be eaten! Why? Because if the tiger does not catch the deer for to-day's dinner, he can still catch some other animal for tomorrow's breakfast, even if he goes hungry to-night. But if the deer once gets eaten, there is no to-morrow for, him at all! The tiger is only trying to get a meal, but the deer is trying to save his life. That is why the deer nearly always gets away from the tiger—because he is trying harder than the tiger.

So the tiger does not get deer to eat much oftener than most children get roast turkey. The tiger lives mostly on pork, for the wild pigs of the jungle are such careless animals, as I have told you before. Now and again the tiger gets mutton also, for the wild sheep are silly creatures, like other kinds of sheep. In the same way the tiger sometimes catches a wild goat.

The tiger would really get deer to eat a little oftener than he actually does if it were not that the deer has two other gifts by which he can escape from the tiger at the last minute. Those two gifts are his quickness in getting started, and his speed in running. So, even if the deer makes a mistake and runs toward the tiger, he can still escape from the tiger if he finds out his mistake in time.

For, as you saw at the midnight pool, the deer may be drinking quietly, when he hears or smells a tiger. Then the deer can leap at once and get away, before the tiger can leap. Or it may happen that the deer is trying to escape from a tiger and has run to within twenty yards of the tiger, when he finds out his mistake. Then the deer can turn at once and leap sideways to get out of the tiger's reach. The deer is so quick that he can turn aside without stopping, and keep on running.

Then after that, once he has turned away from the tiger, the tiger can never catch him. For the deer can run ever so much faster than the tiger.

In fact, the deer or the antelope is the fastest animal in the world, except one other. About that other animal I shall tell you some wonderful things in the next book. But among all animals I have told you about in this book the deer is the fastest.

"But how do people know that the deer can run faster than other animals?" you may ask. "Has anyone had a race between different animals?"

Yes, some people did that in England a few years ago. They took the fastest racehorse in the country, and ran a race between him and the fastest greyhound; and the greyhound beat the horse in the race. Then they took that greyhound, and ran a race between him and an English deer; and the deer beat the greyhound in the race. So, you see, the deer was faster than the greyhound, and the greyhound was faster than the horse! So the deer was the fastest of the three.

And the deer that lives in the jungle is even faster than the English deer. Why? Because the English deer lives in peaceful glades and forests, and has no other animal trying to catch and eat him; so he does not try to be as fast as he could be. But the deer that lives in the jungle has to try very hard all the time to be as fast as he can be, or else he would be eaten by the tiger! And, as you must know, we can do the best in anything when we try the hardest.

So, all kinds of wild deer in the jungle have been trying their hardest to run as fast as they can. And as their fathers and grandfathers have been trying to do that, the wild deer to-day have become the fastest runners among all the animals I have told you about.



CHAPTER XI

The Camel

The camel has very little to do with the kind of jungle I have been telling you about; but he has much to do with the desert. A desert is another kind of wild place. As I told you before, jungle means any wild place; but usually, of course, there are lots of trees and bushes and thickets in it. But we call the wild place a desert when trees and bushes and thickets will not grow there, because the ground is all covered with sand. In the desert there is nothing but sand all over the ground, and not a single tree or a tiny blade of grass anywhere, as far as you can see.

And that is the place where camels can do some very wonderful things, as I shall now tell you. The camels do not actually live in the desert all the time, but in countries quite near there.

First I must tell you that there is only one country to-day, called Central Asia, where camels are still found wild. In all other places they are not wild any more, for in those countries people have lived for many thousand years; so the people caught all the camels once upon a time, and tamed them.

Since that time the camels have been used by people in those countries for their work, just as we use horses here; and rich people in those countries count their wealth by the number of camels they have. Just as we say here that a rich man has a million dollars, or two millions, or three millions, so in those countries a man is thought to be rich who has one thousand camels, or two thousand, or three thousand.

It was just the same in those countries in olden times. You have read in your Bible history that Job was once a rich man, as he owned thousands of camels.

You will see from the pictures facing page 128 that there are two kinds of camels; one kind has a huge hump on the middle of his back; and the other kind has two humps, with a gap between. The One-Hump camel is called an Arabian camel, or a dromedary. Once upon a time he lived in the country called Arabia; that is the country from where you get your lovely old stories of Ali Baba and Aladdin. But now the One-Hump camel also lives in other countries near there. These are all very hot countries, with many miles of desert here and there.

The Two-Humps camel is called a Bactrian camel, as he lives in a country which was once called Bactria. That country also has many deserts, like Arabia; but as it is far to the north of Arabia, it is very cold in winter, and the snow then lies very thick on the ground. So try and remember this:

The One-Hump camel lives in a country where there are many miles of desert, and where it is very hot almost the whole year. So the One-Hump camel has to guard himself only from the hot burning sand.

The Two-Humps camel lives in a country where there are also many miles of desert, but where it is very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. So the Two-Humps camel has to guard himself from the hot burning sand in the summer, and from the cold and snow in the winter.

The Two-Humps camel has in winter a coat of long, shaggy hair on his back to guard him from the cold; and in summer the shaggy hair comes off his back, just as if he were to cast off his thick coat. But the One-Hump camel has only short hair, as the country is too hot all the time to need a thick coat.



Now I must tell you how camels are used. First, they carry goods for trade. In those countries there are hardly any railroads, so the merchants carry their packages on camels. Of course they could not put a package right on a camel's hump, as it would fall off; so they always join two packages together with a band or belt, and sling the band across the camel's back, so that there is a package on each side of the camel.

When a One-Hump camel is used, the band or belt has two parts, like a loop; and the loop rests over the hump, so that the band cannot slip backward or forward. When a Two-Humps camel is used, the band of course rests in the gap between the two humps, so that it cannot slip at all; and then the two packages can be made very big. That is why people like the Two-Humps camel better for carrying goods, and like the One-Hump camel better for riding. But in some places the One-Hump camel is used both for riding and for carrying goods.

In this way merchants carry their goods for many hundred miles across desert and country. Then sometimes they come to the sea and send the goods in ships to different countries. That is how you get many of the figs, dates, and grapes you eat; so the next time you eat them, think of the patient camel that brought them for you across the desert. That is why the camel is called the Ship of the Desert.

The beautiful carpets and rugs and shawls which you see in rich homes have also been brought by the patient camels; and some of the lovely vases and ornaments that rich people have were also carried by camels. And not only across the desert, but even over ordinary land camels carry these goods. The camel is such a large animal that he can carry packages as heavy as four men.

Of course when he carries such a heavy load, he cannot go any faster than a man's walk; but the camel can keep on walking all day, with just a short rest once in a while. Those used for riding cannot run as fast as a horse, but they can keep on running at a steady trot much longer than a horse, and then after a short rest can start running again. So by the end of the day a camel can run twice as far as a horse, and sometimes still farther.

The Camel's Wonderful Gifts

Now I am going to tell you of the most wonderful things a camel can do.

First, I must tell you that no other animal could cross a desert at all. To begin with, if such an animal as a horse tried to walk on the sand, his hoofs would sink into the sand up to the ankles, and it would be hard work for him to go even a mile. But a camel's foot is different. It has a soft pad of muscles under it, just like a cushion; and when the camel walks or runs on the sand, the pad spreads out under his foot, and that gives him a firm hold on the sand in walking or running. So remember that the camel has padded feet.

I must tell you here that the feet of all animals are formed in the way they can best use, in the country in which they live. Those animals that have to walk on hard ground have hoofs, and those that have to walk on soft ground have padded feet. The elephant is the only animal that has to walk on hard ground, at least very often, and yet has padded feet. Can you tell why? Because of his huge weight! He is so heavy that if the bones under his feet were not covered with a thick pad, he would jar the bones every time he put his foot down, even if the ground were not very hard.

In the same way the camel's padded foot is very useful to him even when he is not in the desert, but on hard ground; for he too is rather heavy, though of course not so heavy as an elephant.



There are other reasons why no other animal could cross a desert as easily as a camel. In the desert there are sometimes fierce storms; and as it is all sand there, the strong wind blows the sand about in every direction. As there is no place there where one could get away from the sand, any other animal would soon have a lot of sand blown into his nostrils; then he would be choked. But a camel's nostrils are made differently, so that whenever he likes he can close his nostrils, as easily as you can close your mouths, and that keeps away the sand. The camel is clever enough to lie down on the ground when a storm is blowing, and to lay his neck and chin along the ground; then his nose is quite close to the ground, where the storm is not quite so fierce as in the air.

Of course, when he wants to breathe, he opens his nostrils a tiny bit to take in a little air; then he closes the nostrils again, and holds his breath for a little while. He has to keep on doing that as long as the storm lasts.

But what does his master do, who has been riding on his back? He cannot close his nostrils; so the only thing he can do is to get off the camel and huddle against the camel's body on the side far from the wind; then he brings his face quite close to the ground and holds his nose with his hand. When he wants to breathe, he opens his fingers just enough to make a slit and let the air in, but not enough to let the sand in.

There is another reason why no other animal could cross a desert: his eyes would be blinded by the fierce glare of the sun. But a camel has very thick hair on his eyebrows, which hang over the eyes, and keep off the fierce rays of the sun. His eyelashes also are very thick, and help to keep off the sun in the same way.

But there is a still more wonderful reason why no other animal, except a camel, could cross a desert. In a desert water is very scarce, and a traveler crossing a desert on a camel may not find any water for a whole week. Of course, he carries on his saddle half a dozen bottles of water to drink; but after drinking some of the water each day, he has not much to spare for the poor camel. Then what is the poor camel to do?

Of course, you may say that his master should carry more water for the camel to drink. But the load of goods which the camel has to carry is already so heavy that there is not much room for any more water. Then what can the poor camel do?

Why, he carries his own drinking water, not in the load on his back, but inside his stomach! Is not that a wonderful thing? His stomach is made differently from that of any other animal. The stomach of any other animal, Or even a man's stomach, is so made that the water drunk at any time is all used up in the next few hours; that is why any other animal, or even a man, has to have another drink after those few hours.

But a camel's stomach is so made that it has one big place for food and drink like the stomach of any other animal, but it also has many smaller places arranged all around the stomach; these smaller places are just like bottles, and are called cells.

So when a camel takes a good long drink, the big place in the middle of the stomach takes in the water first; then as he drinks more and more, the bottles or cells all around begin to get filled also. And the wonderful thing is that as soon as each cell is full, its mouth closes up by itself! In that way, if the camel drinks long enough, all the cells get full, one by one, and then have their mouths closed up.

When a camel is about to start on a long journey through the desert, he takes a very long drink, till he feels that he cannot drink any more; then he knows that all the bottles or cells inside are quite full, as well as the big place in the middle of his stomach. Now he is ready to cross the desert.

After many hours all the water in the big place in the middle of the stomach gets used up. Then what happens? Why, one of the bottles inside opens its mouth by itself, and pours the water into the stomach! And after many hours more, when that water has also been used up, the second bottle opens its mouth and pours the water into the stomach. In this way all the bottles or cells inside the camel one by one pour their water into the stomach from day to day, whenever the camel feels thirsty. Is not that most wonderful?

And there is yet another very wonderful thing about the camel. His hump! It is just as wonderful whether it is one hump or two humps. I shall tell you.

The camel's hump is his store of food! Yes, just as he carries his own drinking water inside his stomach, so he also carries his own store of food in his hump.

This is how he does it:

When the camel is quite well and strong, if he eats any food which is a little more than he actually needs for his hunger, that food after a while goes to his hump and helps to make it bigger. In this way the hump becomes a store of all the extra food that he has eaten. Then, on going on a long journey through the desert, if the camel has nothing to eat and begins to feel hungry and weak, a little of the hump is used up to give him strength, just as if he were to eat a meal. In this way he can go for many days without food, but of course his hump will get smaller and smaller.



But his master does not actually take him through the desert without giving him any food or drink; in fact he always gives the camel some of the figs and dates which he takes with him for his own meals, and also some of the drinking water which he carries on his saddle. But if it did happen that his master had no food or drink to spare, the camel could still live for several days, using his hump for food, and the water in the cells of his stomach for drink.

The camel can do yet another wonderful thing. He can tell a long way off when he is coming to a place where there is water. In the desert, after going over sand and sand for many days, a traveler sometimes finds a beautiful place called an oasis. It is just like a lovely little garden right in the middle of the desert, with a spring of water, and several fig trees, date trees, and other palm trees growing all around the pool.

When a traveler is crossing the desert and sees nothing but sand for several days, it sometimes happens that his camel suddenly stops, stands quite still for a minute, raises his head, and sniffs the air. Then he turns a little to the right or to the left, and begins to run straight that way. His master may look ahead very hard, but he will see nothing but sand and sand, as before.

But the camel, by just sniffing the air, has found out that there is an oasis within reach, though it is still too far away for him to see it. Then he runs on most gladly, and comes to the oasis in an hour, so that he and his master can rest there for some time, and drink from the pool, and eat the figs and dates growing on the trees.

Of course, the camel can also eat the leaves of the trees; in fact, when he is not in the desert, but just in the ordinary country, he usually eats from the shrubs and bushes, and gets figs and dates only as a dainty, just as you sometimes have ice cream. The camel with two humps will gladly eat many more things than the camel with one hump. In fact, when he is hungry, he will eat not only any kind of vegetable, but also meat. He has even been known to chew up and eat bones, blankets, and leather! And he is perhaps the only animal that will drink salt water; for the country in which the Two-Humps camel lives has several lakes, the water of which is bitter and salty.

So you see how useful an animal the camel is, whether he has one hump or two humps. He is so useful that people have been saying for a long time that camels should be brought into America, where there are several deserts in the western states. In fact, a strange thing has already happened. The United States Government did bring a lot of camels for use in the western states several years ago, about the time when your grandfather was a boy.

But the people who can best manage such large animals as elephants and camels are the people who are born in the same countries as those animals and who understand their habits. And unluckily, when the camels were brought into America, nobody thought of bringing men also from those countries to manage the camels. So nobody seemed to know how to use these animals, and after a time they were turned loose in Arizona. The camels went into the deserts and forests there, and became quite wild, and to-day there are some of them in Arizona.

Now, do you not think it would be a good idea to get a few men from those countries and learn from them how to manage camels? Then the camels of Arizona also could be used in crossing the deserts there, where there are no railroads.

Besides being the only animal that can cross the desert, the camel is different from any other four-legged animal even in the way he walks.

You have seen how a horse walks? When his left foreleg is lifted off the ground, his right hind leg is also lifted off the ground; then in the next step, when his right foreleg is lifted off the ground, his left hind leg is also lifted off the ground. That means that the two legs which move at the same time are those placed at the opposite corners of his body. But when a camel walks, he lifts the two legs on the same side of his body at the same time. And when he takes the next step, he lifts the two legs on the other side of his body.

Now, my dear, I have told you many things about the camel which are different from anything in any other animal. So, before I close this chapter, I want you to remember these things about the camel:

1. His foot is padded in such a way that he can walk or run on sand.

2. He can close his nostrils to keep out the sand in a storm.

3. His thick and bushy eyebrows and thick eyelashes keep the glare of the sun from his eyes.

4. His stomach has many cells like bottles, in which he can store up water.

5. He can store up food in his hump.

6. He walks by moving both legs on the same side of his body at the same time.

In another chapter I shall tell you about an animal that can also do one of these things: he can store up food in his body, though in a different way. That animal is the bear. He sleeps through the whole winter, and has to have a store of food somewhere in his body to last all that time.



CHAPTER XII

The Camel and the Thief

Now I shall tell you a story about a camel and a thief. It is a true story, and happened many, many years ago. The story shows what we can learn by watching the animals.

Once upon a time, a traveler was going on foot across the country. In his belt he had a purse full of money. One day, as the sun began to get hot, he lay down on the grass under a tree near the roadway, and fell asleep.

After a few hours he woke up, and what was his surprise to find that the purse was gone! While he was asleep, somebody had quietly stolen his purse and gone away.

The traveler ran to the nearest village, and there told the police about it. Now, among the police there was a very clever man, and the police brought him with them to the place where the money had been stolen. The clever man looked all around the place very carefully to see if he could find any marks on the ground. On the grass near the tree he found no marks; in fact, if a person walks on the grass just once or twice it does not leave any mark. But on the roadway near by he found footprints.

"They are a camel's footprints," he said, looking at the marks carefully. "And the marks of all the four feet are not quite the same. Three of them are quite deep and clear; but the fourth one is very faint."

He followed the camel's footprints along the road for a long time. But now and again he stopped and looked at the shrubs and bushes which grew here and there, on both sides of the road.

"Hello, that is strange!" he suddenly said. "The camel has eaten from the bushes and shrubs here and there on the left side of the road, but he hasn't eaten at all from those on the right side of the road."

He went on for some time longer, then suddenly stopped to look at the road where the camel had walked.

"Hello, this is also strange!" he said. "Here are a lot of bees buzzing near the ground on the right side of the road. And here are a lot of ants scrambling over the ground on the left side of the road."

"Never mind about the camel, and the bees and the ants," the policemen said impatiently. "We want to know about the thief who stole the money. You have not found any other footprints except the camel's?"

"That is quite true," the clever man said. "But as the camel could not steal the money, there must be a man riding on the camel. He must be the thief."

"But why didn't the thief leave any footprints?" the policemen asked.

"Because he must have ridden his camel from the roadway right to the edge of the grass," the clever man answered. "Then he must have jumped down upon the grass, where he knew he would not leave any footprint. He must have walked very quietly on the grass up to the tree where the traveler was sleeping, and stolen the money. Then he must have walked back quietly to the camel and ridden off."

"But what sort of a man is the thief?" the police asked. "How can we find him, if you do not tell us what he is like?"

"I cannot tell you a thing about the thief, or what he looks like, as he hasn't even left a footprint," the clever man answered. "But I can tell you all about the camel. The camel is blind in his right eye, and lame in his left hind foot. And on his back he is carrying two packages, one on each side; the package on the right side has honey in it, and the package on the left side has corn in it. So you must search for a man who is riding a camel loaded like that. He is the thief."

So the police searched for a man who was riding a camel which was blind in his right eye, lame in his left hind foot, and carrying honey in a package on his right side, and corn in a package on his left side. After following the camel's footprints on the ground for a long time, the police at last came to a village.

They searched through the village, and found many men riding camels. But there was only one man riding a camel blind in his right eye, lame in left hind foot, and carrying honey on the right side, and corn on the left side. So the police knew that he was the thief, and took him before the judge. Then the thief said that it was quite true that he stole the money.

Afterwards the judge turned to the clever man and asked him how he knew all that about the camel.

"You didn't see the camel at all, but only his footprints," the judge said. "Then how did you know that the camel was blind in his right eye, lame in his left hind foot, and carrying honey on the right side, and corn on the left side?"

"It was quite simple," the clever man answered very modestly. "First, about the camel being blind in his right eye. He had nibbled at the shrubs and bushes growing on the left side of the road, for at each bite I found the leaves cut off clean by his teeth. On the right side of the road there were also plenty of good shrubs and bushes, but the camel had not taken a single bite at any of them. That showed that he did not even see those shrubs and bushes on his right side. And that of course meant that his right eye was blind."

"That is very clever of you," the judge said. "But how did you know that the camel was lame in his left hind foot?"

"That was just as simple," the clever man again answered very modestly. "As the camel walked along, the marks of his two front feet and right hind foot were quite deep and clear on the ground. But the mark of his left hind foot was very faint. That showed that the camel was limping, and the left hind foot only just touched the ground. So I knew that he was lame in that foot."

"That is also very clever of you," the judge said. "But how did you know that the camel was carrying honey on his right side, and corn on his left?"

"That was the simplest of all," the clever man answered most modestly. "As the camel was limping, nearly every step he took jerked the load on his back. So a few drops of the honey fell to the ground from the package on his right side, and a few grains of the corn fell to the ground from the package on his left side."

"But you could not see very well here and there on the ground just a few drops of honey or just a few grains of corn?" the judge said.

"I could not," the clever man answered, "but the bees and the ants could! On the right side of the road I found a swarm of bees here and there; so I knew that they were trying to pick up the honey. And on the left side of the road I saw a whole lot of ants here and there; so I knew that they were trying to pick up and carry away the grains of corn."

Now was it not really clever of that man to find all that out about the camel, without ever seeing the camel before? But, as you understand, he knew all about the habits of different animals; and so he knew what camels and bees and ants always do.



CHAPTER XIII

Bears

Bears are such funny animals, at least some kinds of bears, that you may like to know all about them.

Bears are found in many countries, and in some countries there are several kinds of bears.

But you must remember this: hardly any bear lives in the tropics; that means countries where the sun is almost overhead all the months of the year, so that it is very hot all the time.

But why does not the bear usually live there? Can you guess?

Because the bear is a very hairy animal; and his hair is just like a thick coat, so that he cannot live where it is very hot all the time.

Of course, once upon a time the bear lived only in places where it was very cold, and so he grew thick hair to keep out the cold; but now that he has a thick coat of hair, he cannot go down to hot countries to live. He does not mind living in a cold country; and the colder the country is, the thicker is his coat of hair.

What does the bear eat? Most kinds of bears eat berries, fruits, soft roots of trees, and fish when they can catch it. One or two kinds of bears eat other things also, which I shall tell you about very soon.

The bears that live in cold countries, where there is heavy snow in winter, cannot get anything at all to eat in winter. Why? Because there are no fruits and berries in winter, and the roots of trees are frozen hard and covered up by the snow.

Then if those bears cannot get anything to eat in winter, what do they do? They sleep!

You know that when you are asleep you do not feel hungry; but as soon as you wake up you feel hungry again. It is just the same with the bear; he does not feel very hungry while he sleeps. And he sleeps right through the winter months!

Still, while he is asleep all that time, does he not feel a little bit hungry? He does. So he uses up the store of food inside his body! I have told you that the camel carries a store of food in his hump. The bear has no hump, of course, but he has a thick chunk of fat all around his body just under his skin; and that chunk of fat is his store of food.

So, when the bear sleeps snugly in his den in the winter months, the chunk of fat is slowly used up inside his body, and keeps him from being very hungry.

Of course, he eats such a lot just before the winter, that the chunk of fat is very thick when he goes to bed. But the chunk is all used up when he wakes up at the end of the winter, and then he is very hungry again!

But there is a kind of bear that lives in a place where there is snow and ice almost all the time. What can he do?

He cannot sleep always! So he has to get something to eat now and then, and I shall tell you how he does that.

The Polar Bear

This kind of bear is called the polar bear. (See the picture on page 155.) He lives in a place far up North, where it is always very cold. The land is nearly covered with snow, and the water at the top of the sea is frozen. There are no berries or fruits there for the polar bear to eat; so he has to live on fish, and seal, which is a water animal. The way the bear catches the fish or the seal is this:

He makes a hole in the ice with his paws, so that he can reach the water below. Then he sits down very quietly by the edge of the hole, and waits for a fish or a seal to swim past the hole. Then the bear pounces on it very quickly with his paw or his jaws, and catches it.

If the ice is too thick for the bear to make a hole through it, he has to try another way. He comes right down to the part of the sea where some of the ice has broken off. There he chooses a place at the edge of the ice, close to the water; and he waits there for a fish or a seal to swim past. Then he pounces on it and catches it.

Now I shall tell you a few special things that the polar bear has.

His coat of hair is much thicker than the coat of any other bear. Why? Because he lives in a colder place than any other bear; so he needs a thicker coat. Also, he sometimes has to swim through the icy water to get to some floating field of ice, so that he can catch fish from it. Then, although his hair gets wet, he has a thick lining of fat inside his coat to keep him warm.

The next special thing about the polar bear is that his hair is all white—like the color of everything around him, which, as I have told you, is just snow and ice. So when the polar bear sits down very quietly on the snow and ice, nobody can see him even from a short distance, because he is the same color as the snow and ice. And that is why the fish or the seal does not see him, and so gets caught.



That is one of the wonderful things about many wild animals—they are of the same color as the place where they live. You know that the color of a lion is yellow, like the color of sand; and the lion lives in countries where there are lots of sandy places. You know, too, that the color of a tiger is yellow, but with black stripes upon the yellow, so that if you looked at him from a distance, you might think he was made up of yellow and black stripes. And the tiger lives in the tall grass, which also looks like yellow and black stripes.

But now I shall tell you more about the polar bear. He has three other special things: the soles of his feet are hairy; he has a small head; and he has a long neck.

First, about the soles of his feet. The soles of the feet of other bears are smooth, just like the feet of all other animals that have to walk on ordinary ground. But the soles of the polar bear are covered with long hair, just as is his body. Why? Because he has to walk on ice, which is very slippery, and he needs to have the soles of his feet covered with hair, or else he would slip on the ice, just as you must wear rubbers over your shoes when you have to walk on icy ground.

Now, my dear, just stop for a minute, and think. Among all the wonderful things that I have told you so far, you have always noticed that an animal always has just the very thing he needs! We have to make rubbers, and warm coats, and gloves, and socks, and a dozen things that we need. But to every animal God has given everything that he needs, right on his body.

But now let us go on with the polar bear. He has a smaller head than any other kind of bear. Why? To make it easier for him to put his head through the hole in the ice, when he is catching fish. Other kinds of bears do not have to put their heads into a hole to get anything to eat; so they do not need to have a small head.

The polar bear has also a longer neck than any other kind of bear. Why? To give him a longer reach in catching the fish with his jaws—without tumbling into the water himself. Other bears, who live on dry land, do not need to reach out like that, and so they have shorter necks.

I shall now tell you about these other kinds of bears.

American Bears

First you shall hear about the bears that live in America. The biggest kind is called the grizzly bear. In fact, he is the largest bear in the world. Some grizzly bears are ten feet tall when they stand up on their hind legs!

The color of a grizzly bear is yellow, but with many shades; sometimes between brown and yellow, and sometimes between red and yellow. Teddy bears, with which you have played, are sometimes made of that color. Teddy bears of course are very nice, as they are toys; but I am sorry to say that the real grizzly bear is not nice; he is very fierce. In fact, he is the only kind of bear that is so fierce. Even grown-up men do not want to go near him.

The grizzly is found in many parts of North America, near the Rocky Mountains, from the United States right up to Alaska. He lives on berries and all kinds of fruits, and also on the soft roots of trees. But the grizzly bear eats meat also, if he can manage to catch deer or cattle. That is why cowboys in Colorado and Wyoming do not like the grizzly bear—he tries to kill and eat their cows.

Besides, he kills a lot of fish. In the Columbia River in Oregon there are lots of trout and shad, which people like to have for their dinner. But the grizzly bear gets to the river first, and eats a great many of the trout and the shad. How does he catch the fish? Why, he just lies down along the bank, and waits for the fish to rise to the top of the water. The trout and the shad like to rise to the top of the water now and again, and swim there. So the grizzly just waits for a fish to rise—and then he pounces on it and catches it with his paw. He is so very quick that he hardly ever misses. All kinds of bears are very clever in catching fish.

Other Bears

Another kind of bear is called the brown bear. He lives in Europe, Asia, and also in some parts of America, especially in Alaska. There he is rather big, though not quite so big as the grizzly bear. He too lives on berries, fruits, and roots, and he also catches fish. For in the rivers of Alaska there are lots of salmon.

But the brown bear is not at all fierce, like the grizzly bear. He is peace-loving, and sometimes quite friendly.

The nicest kind of bear is called the black bear. He is found in all parts of the United States, and in many other countries. He is sometimes rather small, and is quite full of fun. Almost all the good stories you may hear about bears are about the black bear.

Many people mistake the black bear for the brown bear; so when you sometimes hear people talking about a "brown" bear, you may know that they really mean a "black" bear.

Like other bears, the black bear lives on berries, fruits, and roots, and also on nuts, if he can find any. But what he likes best is honey! It is quite amusing to see the bear hold a honeycomb in one paw, scoop out the honey with the other, and put it into his mouth. It looks just like a boy holding a pot of jam in one hand, and sticking his fingers into the jam and putting it on his tongue!

"But do not the bees get angry, and try to sting him?" you may ask.

Of course they do. The bees swarm around the bear and try to sting him all over. But they cannot! He is too hairy! They cannot get through the hair to sting him on the skin. So he goes on licking the honey and smacking his lips!

The black bear is always a funny animal. Perhaps you have seen him in the zoo. He will squat on the ground like a man, and if he sees a crowd of people before him, he will swing his arms just as a man does when he talks to a friend. Perhaps the bear has seen some men do that, and has learned to do the same!

And sometimes he will sit on the ground, hold his tail in his mouth, and fumble head over heels, or roll over and over, or spin round and round—just for fun! In fact, the black bear is among the few grown-up animals that love to play. Many young animals of course, such as kittens, puppy dogs, calves, and many others, love to play. But most grown-up animals do not seem to care for play, except the black bear.

When he is caught and tamed, he is still very playful at times. He will do all sorts of funny tricks, all by himself; and if he sees anyone watching him, he will try to show how clever he is—just like a child playing "smarty!"

Once in a lumber camp in the West the men caught and tamed a black bear. After a time the bear was allowed to walk about the camp, quite free, as he did not think of running away. One day the men had stopped work to have their dinner. The bear walked by, and the men petted him and said nice things to him. Then what do you think happened! The bear felt so proud of being praised that he went to a sloping log, and walked along it right to the top. You must know that in a lumber camp there are lots and lots of huge logs, or trees which the men have cut down. And one of these logs happened to rest on a slope, that is, with one end higher than the other.

When the bear reached the top of the log, he sat across it. Then he held on to the log with his front paws, bent his body, and slid down the log—just as a boy slides down the banister! Of course the men laughed, and cheered him. Then just guess what that bear did!

He walked up to the top of the log again, and sat across it, as before. But now he held on to the log with his knees, not his paws, and sat straight up without bending, and slid down the log in that way—just as a boy might hold on to the banister with his knees, not using his hands at all, and slide down the banister in that way, just to show how smart he could be!

You may be sure those men cheered the bear, and gave him lots to eat.

There is another kind of black bear that is also funny, though in another way. He is called the Himalayan black bear, because he lives in India near some huge mountains called the Himalayas. In many ways he is very much like the black bear of America, but he has a white chin and long side-whiskers on his jaws. Some people think that of all kinds of bears he is the most handsome.

Although he often goes up very high on the side of the mountains, he sometimes comes down to the country below, where there are many villages. But the bear is quite friendly, and never hurts the people in the villages, although he is strong enough to kill a man. So the people are also very kind and friendly to him, and never try to hurt him. When you grow up you may read that there are some people in India who are always kind to all animals, tame or wild.[2]

[Footnote 2: To the Teacher.—Please explain to the class that the sect called Jains do not hurt the smallest creature, and will suffer the sting of a wasp rather than kill it.]



I am telling you this because you will see very soon what we gain by being friendly even to a wild animal. The Himalayan black bear, like the other black bear, is also very fond of honey, and of everything sweet. In the country where he lives there grows a berry called mawa, which is very sweet—even sweeter than the strawberry; and the people of the villages make jam from it.

These berries grow quite wild, on bushes here and there in the fields, and even in the jungles near by. When the berries are ripe, the people send out their children to gather them from the bushes in the fields; and the children carry baskets so as to bring back as many berries as they can.

But when the berries are ripe, the bears also want to eat them! So it sometimes happens that half a dozen children are picking the berries from a thick bush, when suddenly a bear comes round the bush and starts gobbling up the berries as fast as he can!

Do the children get frightened and run away? Not a bit! They want their share of the berries, too!

By this time the bush may be getting empty, and the children have not quite filled their baskets. The bear keeps on gobbling up the berries, and even pushing past the children to get at a bunch. What then? Why, the children raise their hands, and just spank the wild bear!

"Go away, you have had enough!" they say. "Can't you go to another bush? There must be others right in the jungle, where we can't go!"

And, can you imagine it, a wild bear there has never hurt a child! When the children spank him and push him away, telling him that he has had enough from that bush, he does go away to some other bush. Of course, the spanking does not really hurt him.

I have told this to you, my dear, just to show you that there is never any real reason for quarreling and fighting, among children, or even among men. If children and wild bears can get along together, why cannot children and children, or men and men, or nations and nations? Surely there are enough berries and other good things for all, if we only look around!

Remember this always, even when you grow up, if you want to be good men and women, and good citizens of your country.



CHAPTER XIV

Bears: The Tricky Trap

Now I am going to tell you something funny about the bear. You have seen lots of wild animals in the zoo, and you may sometimes have wondered how these animals were caught. In another book I shall tell you all about the different ways of catching different kinds of wild animals; but now I shall only tell you how a wild bear is caught. Of course, there are two or three ways of catching him alive, but I shall describe to you now just one way.

You must know by this time that everybody in the world—whether man, woman, or child—has some fault. Some have a bad temper, others are rude, and still others are obstinate; and many, especially children, are too greedy! And so it is among animals: they all have one fault or another.

So the people who want to catch a wild animal find out first what fault that kind of animal has—whether he is greedy, or obstinate, or bad tempered. And they catch the animal because of that very fault!

A bear is very obstinate; in fact the bear, the pig, the donkey, and the mule are among the most obstinate of animals. So, because the bear is very obstinate, he will never give up when he meets anything that blocks his way; and if he has made up his mind to do anything, he will never give up, even if he finds he cannot do it and that it is very foolish to try to do it.

So the people remember the bear's obstinacy, and catch him in this way:

They find a large tree which has a bough fifteen or twenty feet from the ground; then they tie a pot of honey on the bough, quite two or three yards away from the fork where the bough joins the trunk. So, if a bear wants to get at the honey, he will have to climb up the trunk, and then walk along the bough to the place where the pot is tied.

But the people also take a heavy stone, tie a stout rope around it, and hang up the stone by the rope from another bough higher up. They place the stone in such a way that it swings right in front of the honey and a little above it. Then the people hide in thickets near by.

Presently a bear smells the honey from a distance, and comes to find it. On reaching the place he sees the pot of honey on the tree. As the bear is a good climber, he soon scrambles up the trunk of the tree and walks along the bough toward the honey.

But just as he is coming to it, he sees something right before his path. It is the block of stone! And he cannot get at the honey without pushing the stone aside. So, what does he do? Why, quite naturally he pushes the stone aside with his paw. But, as I have told you, the stone is hung up by a rope; and so it swings any way you may push it.

Then what happens? Why, as soon as the bear pushes the stone aside with his paw, the stone swings back and hits him on the paw. The bear gives a growl, and again pushes the stone aside, and this time harder than before.

Then what happens? The stone swings back and hits the bear harder than before! In fact, the stone will always swing back just as hard as it is pushed.

But the bear does not know that! So with another growl he pushes the stone again—and now much harder than before. Then of course the stone comes back much harder, and whacks him again.



This makes the bear really angry. He hits at the stone, and sends it flying through the air in a big curve. But when the stone has gone up and up in that curve, it begins to come down, down, the same way—and gives the bear a thumping whack on the jaw.

Now, if the bear were not such an obstinate animal, he would go away after that third blow, and try to forget the honey. But the bear will never, never, give in! Instead, he gets quite mad with rage. He thinks some enemy is hiding behind the stone!

"Who is hitting me?" he growls. "Come out of that, and fight fair!"

With that he hits a frantic blow at the stone; for the bear is a good boxer. He sends the stone swinging through the air again, and farther than before. Again the stone swings back and gives the bear a hard whack.

In this way the fight goes on. Of course the stone cannot get hurt; so it is the bear that gets hurt, every time. And as he will never give in, he goes on fighting with the stone, and gets hurt more and more, till at last he is knocked right off the tree, and falls stunned to the ground.

Then the clever people rush in from their hiding place, throw a net over the bear, and carry him away. And that is how the zoo gets some of its bears.



CHAPTER XV

Bright Birds

Now I shall tell you something about birds; not ordinary birds, but a special sort.

Of course, birds are not exactly animals of the kind that I have been telling you about, as they have only two legs, instead of four. But they have two wings, which are more useful to them than two more legs.

If they had four legs they could run fast; but with the two wings they can fly, which is ever so much faster and better than running. And they still have two legs with which to stand on the ground, when they have to come down to rest or to feed.

The birds that I am going to tell you about live wild in the jungle, and are free to build their nests where they like.

Among the birds we like best, some can sing, and some have bright feathers. Those that sing may live near your own homes in the country—the lark, the thrush, the nightingale, and some others. But the birds that have bright feathers live generally in other countries.

Most birds that have lovely voices do not have bright feathers; and most birds that have lovely feathers cannot sing.

So among animals everything is very fair and just. With us it sometimes seems different. Some children appear to have all the good luck, and others all the bad luck. Some children can sing well, and are also very pretty; others cannot sing at all, and are also plain to look at. But really things are not quite so unfair; for a child who is plain, and cannot sing, may still have some other gift.

Among birds, those that can sing you may have seen often enough near your own homes in the country; so I shall now tell you about the birds that have bright feathers.

Most birds with bright feathers live in hot countries, where it is sunny almost the whole year. In fact, it is the bright light of the sun in those countries that gives the colors to the feathers of the birds, which are as lovely as the colors of the rainbow.

Among the bright birds that live quite wild in the jungles of hot countries, the most beautiful are the flamingo, the parrot, the cockatoo, the peacock, the golden pheasant, the egret, and a few others.

The Flamingo

I shall tell you first about the flamingos, as they live together in flocks. They were once found in America, and only a few years ago there were many flocks of them in Florida, but now there are very few left in this country. They are now found in Africa and in the countries of southern Asia; a few are found also in Europe.

This is the way the flamingos live. They choose a place in the jungle where there is a lake or a river, and build their nests all around the lake, or by the bank of the river. The nest is just a heap of mud raised up from the ground, with a hollow at the top where the mother bird lays her eggs. Sometimes many thousands of flamingos are found together around one place, which is then called a flamingo colony.



The flamingo is a very tall bird, taller than a man when standing up. The flamingo's legs are long and thin, and the neck is also long. The long neck and the long legs are very useful to him. He stands in the water on his legs, which look almost like a pair of stilts; then he bends down his long neck, dips his beak into the water, and catches a fish or any other small creature that he can find there. And although the fish or the small creature sees the flamingo's legs in the water, it does not run away. Why? Because it mistakes the legs for reeds growing in the water!

When thousands of flamingos in a colony are standing around the lake or by the river, where they live, it is a very grand sight from a distance. The flamingo's feathers are a bright red in color, with white or pink at the edges; so the thousands of flamingos look like an army of soldiers with red coats.

In former years, when soldiers sometimes wore red coats, travelers who happened to come toward a lake in Africa would suddenly see at a distance an army of soldiers, as they thought, standing by the lake. What they really saw were the flamingos fishing!

But no traveler could get very near the flamingos, for they have sentinels! I have told you that the wild buffaloes have sentinels to warn them when an enemy is coming. The flamingos have the same. Their sentinels stand here and there just outside the place where the others are fishing; and they keep a lookout all the time. If any enemy comes, they cry out,

"Honk! Honk! Honk!" That means, "Enemy coming! Fly away!"

And of course all the flamingos rise up in the air and fly away to a safe place, till the enemy goes away.

To see a whole flock of flamingos flying in the sky far above one's head is a most wonderful sight. You have seen a cloud at sunset shining with lovely tints of red and pink and orange: well, the flock of flamingos flying in the sky looks something like that. And they all keep level at the same great height, in rows and ranks, just like an army, as there are thousands and thousands of flamingos in the flock.

Sometimes the rows and ranks widen out for a few minutes, and fill a large portion of the sky; then they close up again, and look like one long banner of red floating in the sky.

And all the time they have sentinels that fly outside the rows and ranks. They make the pattern in the sky still more beautiful.

My dear children, the more you think of these wonders of the jungle and of the world, the more you will understand how great and wise is God, Who made all these things.

The Parrot

Another bright bird that lives in the jungle in a flock is the parrot. You know all about him, as you must have often seen him caged, or chained by the leg to a stand. But he is different in his happy home in the jungle. He lives in almost every sunny country, and flies about in flocks.

Wild parrots also make their nests in flocks. In India there is a deserted city called Amber. Once upon a time a great King lived there in a lovely marble palace; and the nobles and courtiers also had lovely marble palaces and mansions.

But one day the King said that they must all leave that city, and go and build another city. So everybody left the city of Amber, and to-day it still stands perfect—lovely marble palaces and mansions, with hundreds of bushes of wild roses growing all around them.

Nobody lives there, except thousands and thousands of wild parrots, that have made their nests upon the roofs of the palaces, in the porticoes and balconies, and upon the tops of the marble pillars and columns.

Just think of that lovely sight! The blue sky above, the red roses on the ground below, and the white marble palaces between the blue sky and the red roses; and many thousands of green parrots flitting across the sky, and from palace to rose bush. Broad bands of red, white, and blue, with bright flashes of green between them!

Another lovely sight is a flock of wild parrots in the jungle, going home to roost at sunset. I once saw that sight. Their beautiful green wings and the patches of yellow on their heads shone amidst the gorgeous colors of the sunset. And as the parrots flew on and on, many thousands of them, their own colors mingled with the colors of the sunset in ever-changing bands. They flew toward the setting sun, and passed out of sight right into the sun, as it were.

After seeing a sight like that—seeing God's lovely creatures flying about like happy children at play—who wants to see a bird boxed up in a cage?

The Cockatoo

Another bright bird which you may have seen in a cage, or chained to a stand, is the cockatoo. He is a cousin of the parrot, but much larger, and far more gorgeous. He has a beautiful crest of red and orange feathers on his head. His wings are a rosy pink in color; and he has a long pink and white tail.

In other ways he is very much like the parrot. He lives chiefly in the countries of southern Asia, and in the islands between Asia and Australia.

The Peacock

And now I come to the most beautiful bird of all, the peacock. When he spreads out his long tail, it looks just like a lady's fan, only far lovelier than any fan made by men. In color the tail is a kind of blue and green, with touches of gold and violet, and with "eyes" dotted all over it in shades of many other colors.

The peacock can also close up his tail like a fan. Then the long feathers of the tail all come together in many folds, and stand out a yard long behind him.

The peacock is found wild in India and in countries near there, but has now been brought into America and Europe. You may even have seen the peacock in the parks and gardens of some cities, where he lives quite peacefully, at least in the summer months. In the winter, of course, he must have a warm place indoors.

The peacock is really the Papa bird, and the Mamma bird is called the peahen. She has not the gorgeous tail and the lovely feathers that he has; so she looks quite plain. You will find that among animals the Papas are often much prettier than the Mammas.

That seems very strange, does it not? Among us, of course, the Mammas are always prettier than the Papas!

But in another book I shall explain why the Papas among animals are often prettier than the Mammas.

The Golden Pheasant

There is another beautiful bird which has been brought to America, and now lives here; it is the golden pheasant. Once upon a time he lived only in China; but a few years ago people brought a number of golden pheasants to America, and put them in the forests of Oregon and Washington. So now there are many thousands of golden pheasants flying about and making their nests there.

There are other kinds of pheasants in England and in some parts of Europe, and these the people shoot and eat. But the golden pheasant is much too beautiful to eat. His feathers are as lovely as the sunset—gold and yellow and orange, with blue and deep crimson; and all these colors are laid out on his feathers in such a beautiful pattern that to look at him you would think you were dreaming, and not looking at a real bird.

Man, who toils with his hands, cannot make such lovely colors as those of the birds of the air, and of the flowers in the fields, which do not toil.

The Snowy Egret

And now, my dear children, I shall finish this chapter by telling you about a beautiful bird that once lived quite wild in great numbers in the United States. This bird has lovely soft feathers, which are pure white; so it is called the snowy egret. The feathers are as soft as silk. They are also long, with a gentle droop at the end.

Because these feathers are so lovely, rich women want to wear them in their hats; and these rich women are willing to pay a great deal of money for the egret feathers. So, for the sake of the money, hunters go wherever these lovely birds are to be found, and catch and kill them, and get the feathers. In fact, they have killed off so many of these lovely birds, to get feathers for rich women's hats, that to-day there are hardly any snowy egrets left in the United States.

Worse than that, the hunters killed the Papa and Mamma egrets just when their babies were born, because at that time the feathers of the snowy egrets were the softest and loveliest. And so, for each Papa and Mamma egret which the cruel hunters killed, they left a dozen baby birds in their nests to starve and die. Think of that!

Now, my dear children, I want the little girls among you to remember this, especially the little girls who are lucky enough to have rich Papas and Mammas. You can grow up to be beautiful, and look beautiful, without wearing these egret feathers. There are women who try to look beautiful, but who do not think of the pain they give to God's innocent creatures.

So, if ever you want to wear egret feathers, think of the dozen baby egrets who must starve and die if you are to have them.



CHAPTER XVI

The Caged Parrot

I shall finish this book by telling you a story—a true story, which, I hope, will make you think.

Many years ago a sea captain returned to his home in the north of Scotland, after sailing the sea for a long time. He brought with him a parrot. The parrot had lived in South America, where the people speak the Spanish language. So all the words the parrot knew were in Spanish.

The captain knew Spanish quite well, and often talked to the parrot in that language. But after a time the captain died, and there was nobody in that part of Scotland who could talk to the parrot.

The parrot grew silent, and never opened his mouth to say a word. But he was thinking of his friend who was dead, and whose words in Spanish had reminded him of his sunny home. The people around him did not know that, and thought nothing of his silence. So the parrot in his cold and bleak cage pined and pined for his sunny home land, but never a word did he say.

Forty years passed, and a new set of people came to live there. They took no notice of the silent old parrot. They put food and drink in the cage, but knew nothing about him except that he had been in the cage for many years. For a parrot lives much longer than a man—sometimes one hundred years.

One day a sailor came to the house. He had lived in South America, and knew Spanish. He saw the parrot sitting in his cage, all alone and silent, with his head bent down, and his beak on his breast. Then the sailor spoke to the parrot in Spanish.

The parrot looked up, as if he had awakened from a long, long dream. Something reminded him of the days of his youth, when he was a happy bird flying about over the sunny fields of South America. Then he remembered the language of his youth, which he had not spoken for forty years.

Suddenly he flapped his wings in joy, and spoke again. He spoke all the Spanish words he knew, one after another. He spoke to that sailor as to a friend come to him from his own home land. He flapped his wings against the bars, and finally dropped to the floor of the cage, dead. He had died in the thought of his bygone happy days.

My dear children, I am closing this book with this story, because I want you to learn a great lesson from it: be kind to all animals.

I know that you would never willfully hurt any animal. But that is not enough. You may think that you are very kind to some creature, because you feed it and pet it; but all the same you may be very cruel, though you do not mean to be so.

You may think it is great fun to have a pretty bird in a cage. But is it any fun for the bird? How would you like to be shut up in a cage all your life, instead of playing about in God's free air and living in your own home? The bird wants to fly about and live in his nest in his own home land. Think of that when you wish to put a bird in a cage.

Children who are kind to all animals grow up to be men and women who are kind to other people. And it is only by being kind to others that we ourselves deserve to be happy and are happy.

Remember all that I have said, till I come back and talk to you again in the next book. Then I shall tell you many more Wonders of the Jungle.

Till then, as they say in the Orient, God and His peace be with you!

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THE END